The year 2008 has been a fantastic one for Crazy Sam's Bloginess. This blog and its readers inspired me to do a lot of crazy stuff. I can't believe how much energy and time I have put in this site. I really must be crazy! A few more days and 2008 will give way to a new year fostering new hopes and new dreams. So I thought I would present to you 25 handpicked posts that appeared here during these past 12 months and may be a little inside scoop of what went behind in the making of some of those posts, some afterthoughts and some epilogues..

Men N' Music

What a powerful combo it is when you mix gorgeous men with euphony. As the enchanting music takes you to another world, we are shown an artistic array of well-built sexy men. Of course the icing on the cake comes when the photographer himself leaves a comment on the post. Thank you Pat Lee!Click here to read this post.

Gaydar For Sale Anyone?

Yeah if there is one, I am willing to buy that. I need a strong powerful one, which can catch even the faintest Q-rays from all those hot looking trendy guys. I think God was in such a hurry to push me down to the earth that he forgot to fit me with one. Phoebe has got a better gaydar (even though she ain't gay). One time we were lunching and there were these two hot looking guys sitting one table after us. Later she tells me that those guys could be gay. Blimey! I didn't even have the faintest clue! So nowadays, I have put her on a mission - trap good looking gay guys with her charm and summon them to me. And I'm telling you, so far she is not at all doing a good job. I think she is keeping them to herself. Is Phoebe's boyfriend listening?Click here to read this post.

Coulda Shoulda Woulda Prada

This post describes about my trip to Goa. Initially I was planning to write on how sexy Goa felt like with all those gorgeous touristy guys cruising the state. Of course the bride's brother still makes my heart skip a beat. He is such a handsome man, too bad he is straight.. and married! But nothing could be more flattering when two handsome fellas started checking me out during my journey towards home.Click here to read this post.

This one is my lame attempt in writing fiction. I seldom dare to write fictions because they demand lots of imagination. The plot for this story popped in my head when I was watching a Hindi movie called Gangster. There is a scene where Emraan Hashmi sings looking at Kangana Ranaut in a pub, which led me into thinking - wouldn't it be nice if a guy did that to me? Then I thought, "Yeah right! He might be actually singing looking at his girlfriend who is behind me." Then it snapped! This idea could really work for a story. Although I changed the situations for the embarrassment, the essence of the plot remained the same - the protagonist being mislead to develop false hopes, in the end leading to a heartbreak. I also injected into the storyline, my fear of rejection when I finally come out to parents. You might also feel that I was describing that gorgeous hunk with Nick Beyler in mind. Anyways, I hope I can give a second part for this one.Click here to read this post.

Gays And Mothers

I don't know whether my mother can sense that I'm gay, but its a popular opinion (or a myth?) that a mother can know if her son or daughter is gay. In this article, I highlight about how a friend's mother saved him from his ex-boyfriend's threats, Whippy's very first coming out experience to his mother, how I was giving mixed signals to my mother even though they were unintentional, a heartening letter I got as a result of a discussion happened in a gay forum, and Nishit Sharan's documentary in which he filmed his coming out to his mother.Click here to read this post.

Because I Love You

How would you feel if the dream you had just waken up from still lived on you for another few more moments? And how special that dream could be if it seemed like it was trying to show a possible romance in your future? I used to feel all exclusive thinking that I was the only one to have this kinda dream. But then thanks to that first comment, which put all those special feelings to rest!Click here to read this post.

How To Turn-On Sam : Nine Sure Shot Ways!

The idea of CSB cover specials was born with this entry. This was also an experimental post where I tried to imitate the writing style of fashion magazines. Finding pics that could justify each point was a challenging task. But I missed one crucial turn-on factor which one reader later pointed out - hands, strong hands armed with triceps.Click here to read this post.

Why Indian Brides Are In Trouble

It's sad to see a large number of married men looking out to quench their libido, which don't seem to get satisfied with what they do with women. But I'm sure Davis won't be resorting to that. I heard that at the bachelorette party on the night before the wedding, there was this guy who was awesomely good looking and he was so into Davis. But our Davis didn't fall for his charms. He had determined not to take that road again. Anyways, I wish him all the best.Click here to read this post.

The Crazy Sam Musical

This could be the most challenging post that I have done. Whippy tagged me to come up with songs that should describe 22 situations of life. Now as if finding apt songs wasn't arduous enough, I chose to put the rationale behind each of those 22 songs. Then I felt, people should not be just reading my song selections, they should hear it! And so started the tedious affair of choosing fastest file-hosters to stream songs, finding light-weight and aesthetic audio players, updating my music blog (which was closed down later when CSB Random Video became functional) to link video files from here and placing the whole stuff without appearing as total chaos. The entire process was painfully strenuous and taking a hell lot of time that I even thought of dropping the idea. But when the post finally got published, the comments it received made me realize it was well worth the effort.Click here to read this post.

Curing Homophobia

Yes I believe homophobia is a disease which spreads like a plague. These people need cure, otherwise more homophobic bullying, bashing and killing could happen. Every year homophobiaday.org conducts worldwide campaigns against homophobia which culminates on May 17th. In 2008, their message was simple and straightforward - "Homosexuality is not a sickness!" Now in 2009, they wish to spread the truth, "Homosexuality knows no borders."Click here to read this post.

Have You Got What It Takes?

This post expands on my earlier rant, The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life Of Crazy Sam. Actually this was written out of disappointment when a guy canceled our meet at last minute. I wanted to make my mind busy with something. What came out was this. Yes, finally I met that guy after a week, but he didn't impress me.Click here to read this post.

Crazy Sam : Up-Close & Personal!

Pepe tagged me to write ten things about myself and he expected "neatness" and "creativity", which put me in quite a pickle. I don't get in a creative mood just like that and also I wanted to make this tag too look special just like the previous one. Then one evening while I was returning home from work, a thought pricked me, "Why not make this look like an interview that we see in Reader's Digest?" And BAM! The tag found its way to completion. This was my second CSB cover special.Click here to read this post.

The Gay Parade And The Media

India had its first major gay parades at Delhi, Calcutta and Bangalore on June 29th and how did the reporter from Associated Press start his sentence? "Men wore sparkling saris.." Another fine example for how homosexuality is often taken synonymous for transsexualism.Click here to read this post.

But I Used To Be That Innocent..

When you were child, what did your parents say when you asked them how babies were born? I was totally grossed out with my mother's reply. This post became all the more interesting when bloggers and readers shared their experiences. Click here to read this post.

The Cock-Out Attitude

I guess anyone would think twice before opening this post with a title like that. As I explained in the comment section, the cock-out attitude is really about the posture, the way one sits, walks or talks as if he is not afraid of his crotch being kicked (or grabbed) because he knows no one would dare to mess with that area (and that shows confidence). Apparently, some Italians found this article to be gross and some of them thought I was insane to imagine Adrian Armas as my trainer. This article also had the "honour" to get plagiarized.Click here to read this post.

Bloggy Award Reviews Crazy Sam's Bloginess!

It was a dream come true when Bloggy Award finally reviewed this blog. I had been learning a lot from the suggestions they give out to blogs, in fact I was learning from the mistakes that other bloggers made. So when I submitted my blog and got perfect 10 in every criteria, I was on cloud nine.Click here to read this post.

1 Year Of... Bloginess

This post marked the one year anniversary of Crazy Sam's Bloginess. I wanted to present something special, not just a post announcing the occasion. I thought why not make my music blog merge with this one and add a feature that can show random videos on each page load. The idea seemed fantastic, but how do I implement this feature? I announced my requirement at the Dynamic Drive forums. I soon got response from Raymond Angana that he has coded a similar widget and with slight modification to the code I would be able to get what I wanted. I checked his code, made the necessary alterations and voila! The CSB Random Video was ready. But the blog template CSB had that time wasn't suited for this. Therefore that required a long exhaustive search for blogger templates. Finally the one coded by Amanda Fazani seemed good. I began to tweak it according to my needs mainly concentrating on styling, colour scheme, CSB banner and ads, fonts and columns. With the help of BLiZZaRD, I then successfully installed the CSB Random Video. In the meantime I contacted the flash expert, Brian Wiltshire to code me a countdown widget which he readily agreed. I was also able to come up with a fabulous CSB cover featuring none other than Nick Beyler to glorify the occasion. Thus with the help of these great techies, CSB saw it's one year anniversary post on September 12th.Click here to read this post.

Let's Talk About Porn!

It is an established fact that I absolutely love porn. Whenever someone talks about porn, it often gets dirty. So this post was my attempt to show that one can talk about porn without sounding sleazy. You can read about how I started watching porn and my admiration for certain male porn stars and gay pornographic studios. This article became the runner-up in the Most Courageous Post category of Avant Garde Bloggies Awards, thanks to all who voted.Click here to read the post.

A Rendezvous That Offered A Mix Of Everything

Blind dates are most likely to be subjected to lot of awkwardness which is why many people don't prefer them. Though this cannot be exactly put as a blind date, it had loads of awkward moments. This post was actually reproduced from a chat conversation I had with a friend that night after the meet. Click here to read the post.

John Miller's Good Looking Rascal

While flipping through the magazines, I always find myself staring at the John Miller guy. He is handsome and looks so mallu. One of the readers left a comment that he happens to be a VJ on Channel [V], VJ Neil. It's sad that I don't get Channel [V], but I bet he will be one good entertainer.Click here to read post.

The Right To Do "I Do"

Even though Proposition 8 was passed, America has hope. 47.8 percent supported gay marriage. Majority of the supporters of Prop 8 come from the older generation while the younger generation overwhelmingly voted against it. Since there is no force on earth that can stand against a generational shift, it is just a matter of few years when the voice of this young generation becomes a decisive factor in defeating Prop 8. But with Pope Benedict's latest statements such as the existence of gay people is as great a threat to humanity as the destruction of the rain forest [link], the fight for equality seems to be a long tiring battle.Click here to read the post.

Why Cosmopolitan Is For The Fun Fearless Gay Male

I was dying to pen something like this from the time I was introduced to Cosmopolitan way back in Jan. I actually wanted to give a Cosmo-feel to it and that time I wasn't quite satisfied with what I wrote [link]. But this time, it was just perfect. And as per all your recommendation, I checked out Men's Health. I actually liked it and MH will be replacing my current health magazine. Even then, nothing comes closer to Cosmopolitan and it is still the best.Click here to read the post.

Dostana

This is not a review about Dostana, rather it questions the marketing tactics of Karan Johar. Many desi-gays seem to consider Karan as some sort of messiah of the Indian gay community for what he has done with his latest production. So, this is my shot to squeeze some sense into them on how they are missing the bigger picture. As Simon, a friend at Facebook puts it, "Maybe the film does something for the sane people but I don't think it does anything for the 'Phobes'."Click here to read the post.

The Safe First Step I Took To Come Out To My Mother

I guess the title of this one is somewhat misleading to make people think that I actually came out to my mother. But I haven't, yet. Some readers expressed their difference of opinion regarding the issue of coming out to co-workers. As I said, the end decision is left to your discretion. I still think coming out to co-workers is a pretty bad move. But then again, that is just me and I have some serious trust issues.Click here to read the post.

Before wrapping up this post, I want to specially thank few guys for bestowing me with some cool awards this year.

Unsung was generous enough to present me the Brilliante Weblog Award and the Honest Blogger Award. Pepe too showed his love with another Brilliante Weblog Award. And last but not least, Oxy honoured me with the Proximidade Award.

Whenever I'm watching a scene, my eyes would not be always focused on the actors. Most of the times, I find the extras (the background guys) oozing out much hotter appeal than the actors. Till now the hunk spotted series was featuring lead actors, this time we can zoom in towards a hot hunk who happens to be an extra.

The following video is available in HD (press to enable) which means, you can put it full-screen (press) without losing much clarity!

This A.R. Rahman song is from the 2007 Tamil flick, Azhagiya Tamizh Magan.

So which is the guy I am lusting after? - The one who mostly appears at the foremost row, on the right side of the lead actor. It's not that easy to miss him since he is on every frame where the guys are shown dancing. But sadly, I don't know who he is, what's his name and most importantly, where I can find more pics of him.

The initial findings from CSB Investigation Team tells that this guy could be belonging to the dance group run by choreographer Raghava Lawrence, who is famous for intricate hip-hop and westernized dance moves. He already proved that he absolutely fit the bill for first, fourth and sixth ingredient to turn me on. And I'm trusting that he could be doing justice to rest of the ones too. So can you help the guy-crazy Sam in keying out this stud-muffin? (also nurturing a vague hope that he has an online portfolio somewhere featuring slews of photos!) Question, do you also feel him as totally scorching? - Actually I'm hoping for a negative answer, coz in most probability I could be falling for this kinda guy and I don't want to feel insecure with the thought that many hungry eyes could be prying on my boyfriend! :D

Last Saturday, I indeed danced with a similar guy. With the horniness that seemed to surge after each glass of hard liquor, only I know how I held back from throwing myself at him when he undid those two buttons during his moves giving me a perfect view of his sexy hirsute chest! Well.. there were also other factors that ensured I shouldn't go overboard:

OneHe is married.TwoHis wife was also there.ThreeIt was a family party which had well-known attendees such as..my parents and relatives.

Like me, if you are thinking about how to escape from the parental pressure to marry an opposite gender in the near future, there is only one way. Come out to to your parents. Don't lie, don't lead a double life, tell them the truth. Your homosexuality is a part of you and suppressing it could only result in pains and not just for you, but for all the people who are close to you. And in my opinion, a parent has every right to know about this part of their child.

A brilliantly executed scene from Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.

Suppressing your homosexuality could only result in pains and not just for you, but for all the people who are close to you.

True, all parents dream of their child's wedding and wait anxiously to spoil their grandchild with all their love. But I don't think any parent would want their son or daughter to take a path that could result only in agony and frustration. Why make them feel guilty in future when in fact you could have prevented all the throe if you had the balls to come clean to them. And while coming out, the last thing you want to happen is your parents getting all worked up because of some misapprehensions regarding homosexuality, thanks to our media. So it is our responsibility to give them a vivid thought about homosexuality - that it is not some disease, that being gay is not equivalent to being affected with HIV or AIDS, that how gay people can look absolutely the same as any straight person you pick from the crowd, and that how the love between two men and between two women being no lesser that than the love between a man and a woman.

But how to make our parents understand all these without putting doubt in their minds that you could be gay? One of my friends chose to come out to his close friend by making him read about homosexuality from a book. Do not do something like that to your parents. It could only expose yourself to the question of why you are making them read and that in turn could force you in confessing the truth when you are not even ready. The best option is to arrange a situation where you and your parents could watch something that handles the subject positively in a non-thrusting manner.

Will & Grace is a good option, but if sitcoms are not their cup of tea and if they do not get the gay jokes and puns, I don't think they will be interested to sit through the entire 20 minutes. I used to make a big deal about Friends and Will & Grace to my mother and she finally succumbed to the curiosity and we used to watch these sitcoms together. (We have also watched Three's Company, Full House, Small Wonder, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Who's The Boss? and Seinfeld.)

Reema Kagti's Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. is another good choice, but I feel it is packed with tales of so many people that one may fail to give deserving importance to the message it tries to give out regarding gays. Even then, this one is highly recommended.

The two movies I mentioned in an earlier post, Mambo Italiano and A Love To Hide are also good ones, but I have no idea why I missed one absolutely brilliant movie which is just perfect to show to your parents without putting your sexual orientation on the confession table. The movie is called Wedding Wars. Its story revolves around a straight wedding where the question of gay marriage is thrown in. And by doing that, the movie enlightens the viewers about the whole gay concept without being all gay-pushy. It deals with two brothers finding hard to accept each other because one is gay, a son coming out to his parents, the love between two gay men and the social chaos created when a governor goes against gay marriages to ensure the safety of his voting bank although he supports gay rights (an Obama situation). Now you will ask me, with so much of gay ingredients put in, how can I say that this movie is not gay-pushy? I think that is the skill of the writer, Stephen Mazur and the director, Jim Fall. They (together with all those superbly talented actors including John Stamos) maintained a delicate move. At IMDB, even though this movie is categorized as comedy, in my opinion it's the perfect gay-friendly straight movie which was bold to bring together gays and politics without offending anyone.

I remember when I watched it for the first time a year ago, I was like, "Wow! What a perfect movie to show to my parents!!" And last week that's what I did, well.. to my mother at least, coz it is almost impossible to force my father to watch an entire movie unless he is inside a cinema hall. During the movie when the governor declares his disapproval towards gay marriage, my mother had a surprised laugh. I don't know whether that laugh was for the awkward moment that developed between the two brothers or she actually felt that the governor was being unfair. The movie has a happy ending, and my mother and I were smiling. And nope, she didn't ask me why I put this movie and I'm sure I was able to show her that side of gays, which I want her to associate with, when I come out to her in the future.

Although no one can be a perfect guide on how to come out to ones parents, friends or co-workers, there are ways that you should never take, no matter how tempted you could be. Cosmopolitan in their 12th Anniversary issue (Ah! That was one heavy loaded one!) exposed four ways you should avoid at any cost when revealing your alternate sexual orientation.

1. Never come out over the phone.2. Never come out in anger.3. Never come out through third party.4. Never come out in revenge.

And there are some movies which you should try to keep out from your parents' vicinity - Tarun Mansukhani's Dostana, Karan Razdan's Girlfriend*, Gautham Menon's Vettaiyadu Villaiyadu* are some of the popular ones.

By the way, if you are thinking about coming out to your co-workers, let me tell you it will not be a safe bet. I prefer coming out to my close friends and parents,and I would try to stall endlessly on doing the same to co-workers.

* from the sentiments of many gay Indians.

Disclaimer: I understand that the living and social situations of many gay youth will not be the same as mine. The views expressed in this post should be taken only as suggestions, the end decision is left to your discretion.

I dedicate this post to our Indian Army, National Security Guard commandos and Mumbai Police force for their brave and courageous act in flushing out the terrorists from Mumbai, India.

I support Vishal Dadlani's cause to file petition against Indian TV News channels regarding their unethical conduct during the reporting of Mumbai terrorist attacks. If you support the cause, visit http://smallchange.in/ to sign the petition. Also I request you to refrain from discussing this issue (whatsoever your stand is) in the comment section.

Alright people, let me warn you. If you do not want to waste your next three minutes, skip this post immediately. This is gonna be the mother of all bragging, boasting, blowing, swashing, touting, vaunting,.. Okay you got the point, right? (There you go! Now I taught you synonyms. Who says CSB is nothing but gay talk?:D)

So in no particular order of importance:

Crazy Sam's Bloginess became one of the most popular blogs at Best Male Blogs (Warning! NSFW) during the second week of November.

Crazy Sam's Bloginess was able to touch the top 40 position for the first time during the second week of November at the Top Blogs Bloglistings of PLU Blogs. During the final week, CSB's rank came up to 35.

I am happy to know that the post on Dostana was well-received and even earned interest to be republished and echoed to the farther corners. Shaheryar Ali, who blogs at Sherryx has asked my permission for a possible reproduction of the post on his blog.

During November, Crazy Sam's Bloginess had almost thrice the page loads, thrice the unique visitors and twice the returning visitors than it had on the previous months. The highest numbers ever, since this blog's inception. (*touch wood!*)

I know this post has that ugly boastfulness (Haha! As if you failed to notice it!:P), but my feet are firmly grounded because I know none of this would have been possible if I didn't have the support of my friends and readers. (Such a cliched dialogue, but that's the truth!) Even though I was never serious on updating CSB regularly, that didn't stop many of you to keep coming back. I'm grateful to all of you. Special thanks to all who stop by to comment my posts and send emails, you have no idea how much joy they bring to me!

I confess. This time I don't feel that usual excitement when I publish a shout out post, after being subjected to heartrending visuals for the past few days.

Crazy Sam's Bloginess (CSB) is one of the popular gay blogs from India. Covering wide range of topics from gay life, homophobia to photography and modelling, the blog is followed by fashion photographers and gay fraternity world wide. Unlike other Indian gay blogs, CSB is unique in the sense that it is 'straight-friendly' aiming to sensitize the subject of homosexuality among straight people. More info..

Jack: For your information, most people who meet me do not know that I am gay.Will: Jack, blind and deaf people know you're gay. Dead people know you're gay.Jack: Grace, when you first met me, did you know I was gay?Grace: My dog knew.

Will: But... Don't you see what a compliment that is? I mean, I mean, I love you, so if I can't make it work with you, then it'll never work with any woman, because you're perfect for me.Grace: That is not a compliment. A compliment is "You're sexy, you turn me on," not "One look at you proves I'm a queer!"

Jack: Thought for the day - Though the eyes are the windows to your soul, the zipper is the window to your underwear.

Will: Ok...nothing. It's nothing. We're fine. Did I just scream like a woman?Grace: Don't flatter yourself. You scream like a girl.

Vince: Will, I don't play games. Look, I'm a romantic. Call me old-fashioned, but I believe when a guy takes another guy out, he should treat him like a lady.

Grace: Can't you just wait a few more minutes? You have the best table in the restaurant.Will: Yes, if you enjoy dining on the sun. Look at me, Grace! My back is sweating so much, my underwear is like a bucket!

[Karen is showing her breasts to a woman.]Grace: Karen, what are you doing?Karen: She started it.Grace: Karen, she's breast feeding.Karen: Oh... That would explain the little bald man.

The models featured on CSB mock-up covers have no affiliation with Crazy Sam's Bloginess (CSB) in any way whatsoever. Crazy Sam claims no credit for any images featured on this site unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyright to it’s respectful owners.Crazy Sam is in no way responsible for or has control of the content of any external web site links.